


Operation Phoenix

by magicathstewart (avidfangirllife)



Category: Carry On - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Disney World & Disneyland, Fluff, M/M, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 04:32:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5525507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avidfangirllife/pseuds/magicathstewart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Baz and Penelope surprise Simon with a trip to Disneyland.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Operation Phoenix

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is my Secret Santa gift for [rafiki-disney](http://rafiki-disney.tumblr.com) / [magical-gay-wizards](magical-gay-wizards.tumblr.com) ! I hope you enjoy reading it half as much as I enjoyed writing it! 
> 
> This is written entirely in the first person pov from Baz’s perspective. I also want to be clear that I am way more familiar with Disney World than Disneyland so if I got anything big wrong please tell me!
> 
> I had SO much fun writing this one. I am insanely proud of it. I'm not sure it is my best fic, quality-wise, but I am really happy with how it turned out. I hope you agree!!! Enjoy :D

“What time does Simon get back?” Bunce asks me.  
  
“I don’t know,” I tell her. “You’re the one that lives with him. I’m his boyfriend, not his keeper.”  
  
She fixes me with a glare, which I return with equal measure for a solid two seconds before I cave. “Alright, fine. He’ll be home at 5:30.”  
  
She smiles and says, “Perfect,” hopping off the couch and dragging me with her.  
  
“Where are you taking me, Bunce?” I ask, pulling back my hand but continuing to follow her.  
  
“Where do you think, Basilton?” It’s a fair question. There are only so many rooms in their flat. We’re clearly going to her room.  
  
She leaves me sitting stiff on the edge of her bed and moves to her closet. She must realize I feel somewhat uncomfortable because she turns back around to say, “Oh, relax, Baz. I used to sit on your bed all the time.”  
  
“That makes me feel so much better,” I reply sarcastically, but relax into the mattress nonetheless.  
  
“We don’t have time for this. We have work to do,” she says, pulling a whiteboard out of her closet.  
  
She writes _Operation Phoenix_ across the top in red marker and underlines it in black.  
  
“What’s all this about?” I ask her, gesturing to the scene in front of me. I’m all for grandiosity, but I’d love to know what Bunce is up to.  
  
She caps the marker and goes to sit at her desk, closer to the bed. “We both know Simon misses his magic,” she starts and I nod along. “Well, I thought we could have a magical vacation.”  
  
I stop nodding immediately. “What do you mean, ‘magical vacation’?”  
  
She holds her palm up in front of me and says, “Okay, but hear me out,” which immediately puts me on the defensive. This is not going to be good. “I thought we could go to Disneyland.”  
  
I think about it for a moment. _Disneyland_. Sure, we’d have a lot of people to deal with, but it makes sense in a twisted way. It is sure to be a magical vacation. It could be good for Snow.    
  
“I’m in,” I say before I can talk myself out of it. Penelope opens her mouth to speak as soon as the words are out of mine. Then she freezes and closes her mouth again, looking at me questioningly.  
  
“Did you say you’re in?” she asks.  
  
“I’m in,” I repeat, smiling at her.  
  
“I thought that was going to take a lot more convincing. I had a speech prepared and everything.”  
  
“Do you want to give me your speech or do you want to start planning?”  
  
Instead of answering, she skips back over to the board, grabs a purple marker, and starts writing.

 

* * *

  

We spend the next few weeks planning the important parts of the vacation. Once we pick a date, – we decide on five days, that way we have two days of travel and still three days in the two parks – Penelope books our tickets. They’re for two weeks after Snow’s birthday. The flight from Heathrow to LAX takes about eleven hours. I should have thought this through more.  
  
The next order of business is to come up with a spell that will keep Snow’s wings and tail away for an extended period of time. Technically it falls under the list of my responsibilities, but Penelope and I work on it together.  
  
One day, Snow falls asleep on the couch with his head in my lap. I grab my phone off the table next to the couch without moving too much.  
  
_Snow passed out. Wanna try one?_ I text Penelope. She’s in her room.  
  
She comes in then and waves her ring hand in the air, casting one of the spells. Snow’s wings and tail shimmer and then flicker out. He wakes up immediately.  
  
“What the hell?” he croaks out, voice laden with sleep.  
  
Penelope smiles at me, then waves and runs back into her room.  
  
“Bunce and I were just messing around,” I say. “Go back to sleep.”  
  
He does, and I take the opportunity to wave my hand in the air over where his wings were. I need to make sure they’re really gone, not just invisible. My hand flows through the air freely, so I grab my phone again and send Penelope another text.  
  
_Success!  
  
_ It turns out to not be a success when the wings reappear while we are eating dinner, Penelope and I frown at each other and head back to the drawing board. The spell worked, but we need to find a way to make it last longer. It’s not until two days later that I realize what the spell was missing.

 

* * *

 

Penelope and I decide to tell Snow about the trip on his birthday. We don’t tell him where we’re going, simply that the three of us are going on a vacation together.  
  
“What about my wings and tail, though?” Snow asks us.  
  
“That’s why we decided to tell you. We want to test a new spell, but we needed you awake this time to do it.” I say.  
  
He pauses and considers, likely remembering the day we messed with his extra appendages while he was napping. “Okay, let’s try.”  
  
The three of us stand in a line; Penelope is facing Snow’s back and Snow and I are facing each other. I look at Penelope over Snow’s shoulder and say, “You’re up, Bunce.”  
  
She holds her ring hand up in front of Snow’s wings and says, “ **Part of your world**.”  
  
Snow’s wings and tail shimmer and flicker out again, the same as last time.  
  
“How did that feel?” I ask him.  
  
“A bit tingly,” he replies, face scrunching up. “Like the feeling I get when my foot falls asleep. I know they’re there but they don’t feel like they are. They don’t feel like they’re really gone either.”  
  
I nod along, working up to the next part. The part that requires _true love’s kiss_. If it even works. “There’s one more thing,” I say, stalling. When he doesn’t speak, I continue. “The next part of the spell requires true love’s kiss.” It comes out barely louder than a whisper. Just because Snow is my true love doesn’t mean I’m his. What if it doesn’t work?  
  
“What are you waiting for?” he asks, smiling and cupping my cheek.  
  
I can’t help but smile back as I lean in and brush my lips against his. Snow pulls back with a gasp as soon as our lips touch.  
  
“What is it?” I ask, panic seeping in.  
  
“I don’t feel them anymore!” He replies, smiling once again.  
  
“Does that mean my spell worked?” Penelope asks, excited. She runs over to where we are standing and throws her arms around the both of us.  
  
“ _Our_ spell,” I correct her. She pulls back to roll her eyes at me. Then we high five over Snow’s shoulder.  
  
“I can’t believe it actually worked,” Snow says. “It feels so strange. This must be what it’s like to have a phantom limb. Or, in my case, phantom dragon parts.”  
  
“Not to burst any bubbles, but we still don’t know how long the spell is going to last,” I say. Sure, it’s exciting the spell worked, but we need to make sure it lasts long enough to be useful.  
  
The spell does last. Three days to be exact, which in retrospect we probably should have seen coming. Three days of waiting for Snow’s wings to pop back into existence at any given moment.  
  
I’m pleased the spell worked. Though, if I’m being honest, I’m even more pleased the spell didn’t reset every time I kissed Snow – it was a possibility Penelope and I had discussed. I can’t imagine having to go three days without kissing Snow to get his wings back. I can barely imagine going three hours without kissing Snow.

 

* * *

 

Once we have the spell worked out, it is smooth sailing to Disneyland. We manage to make it all the way to the hotel before Snow finally figures it out. Penelope and I both consider it another success.  
  
Our first day there, we wake up at six fucking thirty in the morning because the park opens at eight. I am _really_ regretting not thinking this trip through more. We eat breakfast in the hotel – because Snow can be counted on to never miss a meal – and then we’re off to the park.  
  
Penelope has an app on her phone that tells us when and where all the important rides and attractions are, including wait times. It proves to be extremely helpful. We have until 8:45 pm before we need to be back on Main Street for Paint the Night.  
  
We start small with Dumbo and the King Arthur Carousel. The carousel is exciting because Penelope and I get to help Snow overcome his fear of horses.  
  
“Come on, Snow. They’re not even real horses,” I say, dragging him after me to find seats on the carousel.  
  
“I don’t understand why we couldn’t do Dumbo again instead,” he replies. “I liked the Dumbo ride. It was cute and I felt like I was flying.”  
  
“You’ve flown with actual wings before, Simon,” Penelope cuts in at a whisper as to not attract unwanted attention from Normals. We already gain enough with our accents.  
  
“Exactly! I felt really connected to Dumbo in that way. It made me enjoy the ride on a whole different level,” Snow says. Penelope and I grin at each other. This trip is already working.  
  
“Alright Snow, just pick a horse before the ride starts,” I tell him, moving to a spot with three free horses. He looks at me with pleading eyes and I cave instantly. “Okay, hop on this one with me.”  
  
Snow gives me a small smile and climbs on the horse. I take my seat directly behind him and wrap my arms around his stomach. I can feel the tension slowly start to leave his body as the ride starts. I hold him tighter and rest my head against the back of his, facing Penelope on the horse next to us.  
  
I mouth, “Good so far, right?” to her so Snow doesn’t hear me. She gives me a thumb up and we both settle in to enjoy the rest of the ride.  
  
We head over to Peter Pan’s flight next, which Snow enjoys as much as Dumbo. It’s really cute seeing how excited he gets flying over Big Ben. Disneyland with Snow is as good as Disneyland with a seven year old.  
  
After Peter Pan’s flight, Penelope and I take him on the Mad Tea Party ride. Although it is my idea to spin the cup as fast as we can (without magic), I regret it after. Penelope suggests we take it easy on “it’s a small world” and then get lunch, which both Snow and I quickly agree to.  
  
The queue for small world is not as long as I’d have expected it to be. We’re sitting in a boat in no time. Penelope and I both offer to give Snow the outside so he can see everything better, but he chooses to sit in the middle of us.  
  
I find myself enjoying the ride, but before we are even through the second room my eyes start to droop. I let my head fall to Simon’s shoulder and doze off for the rest of the ride.  
  
Snow shakes me all the way awake right as the ride is finishing up and says, “You’re lucky you didn’t start snoring,” with a joking smile.  
  
“Six thirty, Snow. Six. Fucking. Thirty,” I reply shoving him the rest of the way out of the boat.  
  
After we eat, Snow and Penelope want to head over to Tomorrowland to go on Hyperspace Mountain. I’m more interested in the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but they want to go on their Star Wars ride so we do that first. It ends up being their favorite ride of the day.  
  
Mine is the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It’s dark and cold and we get splashed a little, but it feels authentic – like I could really be a pirate.  
  
On the Haunted Mansion ride, Snow tells me my house is way more haunted. To be fair, he’s probably not wrong.  
  
We make it back to Main Street in time for Paint the Night and the fireworks. The three of us find a seat on the curb near the entrance to Frontierland that way as soon as the show is over we can make a break for Fantasmic.  
  
Snow sits between Penelope and me again. While we’re waiting for the parade to start, he grabs our hands – one of ours in each of his.  
  
“Thank you for this. Both of you,” he says, looking back and forth between us. “I really needed it.”  
  
Penelope and I place smacking kisses on either side of Snow’s face. When Penelope’s done, I put my finger under his chin and pull his face towards mine again. I brush my lips against his, quick and innocent. When I pull back, the parade music starts.  
  
After Fantasmic, I decide I probably needed this trip too.

 

* * *

 

The next day we plan to go to Disney California Adventure Park. Snow and Penelope wake up at six fucking thirty in the morning again to go get breakfast. When Snow tries to wake me up to go with them, I throw a pillow at him and tell him to come get me when they’re leaving for the park. I hear the two of them laughing on their way out of the hotel room as I fall back asleep.  
  
We still make it to the park before 9. After the excitement from the day before, all three of us are keen to walk around more freely and try to focus on the bigger rides, rather than trying to get on all of them. It works out anyway, because there are fewer rides to get to in this park.  
  
The Tower of Terror is first. We end up riding it three times in a row. Snow wants to go on again, but Penelope convinces him we can come back later.  
  
We ride Ariel’s Undersea Adventure three times in a row, too.  
  
“Come on, Baz. You and Penny wouldn’t let me do the Tower of Terror more than three times!” Snow says, tugging me towards the Golden Zephyr. “Let’s fly again!”  
  
“Fine,” I concede. “But we are coming back later.”  
  
“Yes, Baz. We’ll come back later,” Penelope says.  
  
“Promise?” I ask Snow, tugging his sleeve so he has to turn around and look at me.  
  
“Promise.” Snow says back, and I let him drag me off to fly.  
  
All three of us get extremely competitive on Midway Mania. Penelope wins.  
  
“That was completely unfair. You didn’t have to sit with Baz,” Snow complains on the way out.  
  
“What are you trying to say, Snow?” I ask.  
  
“Oh stop it, the both of you. I won fair and square,” Penelope says. Both of us shut up. “Now, what ride are we going on next?”  
  
“California Screamin!” Snow and I say at the same time.  
  
“Well, at least you can agree on something,” Penelope says, leading the way to the next ride.  
  
One time on California Screamin is enough.  
  
We go back to the Tower of Terror and Ariel’s Undersea Adventure – twice each – before World of Color starts at 10:15 pm.  
  
After World of Color, the three of us sit in awe for what feels like hours, but equates to about five minutes.  
  
“Last ride, boys. You up for it?” Penelope says, finally. She stands and faces us. Simon and I look at one another, then back at her.  
  
“I…I think so.” Simon stammers out.  
  
All I can do is nod.  
  
“Get it together! Let’s go. Before the park closes,” Penelope grabs our arms and pulls us up. She has to drag us a few feet before we get our footing and can walk on our own. “I thought this one would be fun to do at night,” she says, stopping in front of Mickey’s Fun Wheel.  
  
I let myself enjoy the view on the Fun Wheel. My mind wanders over the past two days. All my life I’ve spent in the world of mages and I’ve never felt this connected to magic. I put my arm around Snow’s back and pull him in closer to my side. He rests his head on my shoulder, relaxing into me. I wonder if he feels the same way.

 

* * *

 

The next morning, Snow and Penelope don’t even try to wake me all the way up. Snow’s wings came back in the middle of the night, so he wakes me up just enough to kiss him before they run off. When they get back from breakfast, we decide to spend our last day in Disneyland Park and go on our favorite rides there again.  
  
“Can we do ‘it’s a small world’ again?” I ask, walking down Main Street. “I missed it last time.”  
  
“That’s because you slept through it,” Snow says, taking my hand. He’s been holding my hand the whole trip. Even when we’re queueing. It’s almost as nice as the kissing.  
  
“And don’t say, ‘ _Six thirty, Snow. Six. Fucking. Thirty,_ ’” he continues in his best impersonation of me. “I was there. I also woke up at _six fucking thirty_.” Penelope snorts.  
  
“At no point did you say we couldn’t go,” I say in response.  
  
“Obviously we’re going on ‘it’s a small world’ again, Baz,” Snow says, swinging our hands. (He’s been doing that a lot, too.)  
  
“That’s all you had to say.”  
  
We pass a cart that sells ears and Snow gets excited. Normally this is the time when I’d say _don’t even think about it, Snow_ , but we are in Disney and the magic is running strong in my veins, so what comes out is, “Do you think I’d look better with Mickey ears or the sparkly Minnie ones?”  
  
“Mickey ears, definitely,” Snow answers immediately. “What about me?”  
  
“Get the Mickey ones so we can match,” I say, “Bunce can get the sparkly Minnie ones.”  
  
“I am going to get the sparkly Minnie ones, but I’d like it to be known that it is not because they are girly. I’d simply rather _not_ match the two of you,” Penelope says, paying for our ears and putting hers on.  
  
“Thanks, Penelope,” I say, adjusting Snow’s ears on his head.  
  
“Yeah, thanks, Penny,” Snow says, not breaking eye contact with me.  
  
I keep my hands on either side of his head and pull his face towards mine. My lips linger on his and it takes all my strength to break them apart.  
  
“There are children here, Baz. Keep it in your pants,” Penelope says.  
  
“I’m trying, Bunce.”  
  
“Small world?” Snow says at a whisper.  
  
“Small world.” I say, and we head off towards Fantasyland.  
  
As it turns out, “it’s a small world” is much more enjoyable when you wake up at a reasonable hour.  
  
The rest of the day, we spend wandering the park at a more leisurely pace. We go on all our favorite rides again – Snow makes us do Dumbo, but in return I get to do Pirates two more times. This time, Snow stops to get food at every stand we pass. He eats a total of two turkey legs, three Mickey pretzels, five churros, two buckets of popcorn, and one Mickey ice cream bar. (We stay away from the Mad Tea Party ride.)  
  
Penelope decides to head back to the hotel before Paint the Night. She says she’s tired, but I think she’s just trying to give us some time alone together. We try to convince her to stay, but she insists on going back to the hotel.  
  
Snow and I manage to get a decent spot on Main Street to watch the parade but I end up watching him the whole time. I missed his facial expressions the first time around, but I don’t miss one now. The glowing lights from the parade catch in his hair and turn it all different shades of blue, pink, and purple. Any time a new character comes, his face lights up brighter than the float passing on the street.  
  
It becomes too much for me at one point and I can’t help but lean forward and press my lips against his cheek. He turns to smile at me before returning his attention to the parade.  
  
When the fireworks start, we shift so he is sitting in front of me, between my legs. I wrap my arms around him and prop my chin on his shoulder. A big, bright firework explodes, lighting up Snow’s face and I see a tear shining on his cheek.  
  
“You okay?” I speak into his ear – loud enough so he can hear me over the firework show, but soft enough to not ruin the magic of it.  
  
He nods and I brush my mouth over the tear, taking it away.  
  
I wait until we are walking to Fantasmic to ask him about it again. Our fingers are linked, so I give his hand a soft squeeze.  
  
“What were you thinking, Snow?”  
  
“I guess I haven’t felt this connected to magic in a really long time. Maybe not ever,” Snow says. His voice seems sad, but I know it’s not sadness because I’m feeling the same thing.  
  
“Me neither,” I say and leave it at that.  
  
In the middle Fantasmic, I rest my head on his shoulder and he leans his against mine. When it ends, we sit there for a minute, soaking in the last bits of magic the trip has to offer us.

 

* * *

 

“I’m not ready to go home yet,” Penelope says the next morning as we finish packing up our bags.  
  
“I don’t think any of us are,” Snow says. He’s sitting in the middle of our bed. He made me do all the packing.  
  
He’s right. I’m not ready to leave here either. I’d gladly wake up at six fucking thirty tomorrow morning if it meant I could stay another day.  
  
Snow falls asleep on the plane before we start taxiing away from the gate. His head is on my shoulder, the armrest up between us. Penelope is on his other side.  
  
“Thank you for this, Penelope,” I say. “It really meant a lot to Snow. Even to me.”  
  
She smiles wide and says, “I think it’s safe to say Operation Phoenix was a success. And it may have been my idea, but you put just as much work into this trip as I did. Thank you for helping me plan it.”  
  
“I’d do anything for him,” I tell her.  
  
“I know you would,” she says. We both settle in for the eleven hour flight back home. “So would I.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it!!! Let me know what you think here or come talk to me on [tumblr](http://magicathstewart.tumblr.com) ❤


End file.
